NIOS wins The Times of India Social Impact Award 2012

Photographs Courtesy: The Times of
India

THE NIGHT THE SUN SHONE
In an evening packed with lump-inthroat moments,three in
particular stood out.Tamana Chona,a young school teacher who was
born with cerebral palsy,had just handed over The Times of India
Social Impact Award for education in the government category to the
National Institute of Open Schooling,represented by its chairperson
Dr S S Jena.Tamana gave him a quick hug,then marched over to the
lectern and said she wanted to say a few words.It wasnt part of the
programme but the host for the evening National Awardwinning
film-maker Prakash Jha,who has directed some of Indian cinemas most
hard-hitting,socially relevant movies graciously made way for
her.
Tamana spoke haltingly but emphatically.I have come a long way
thanks to Dr Jena,who is my role model,and my mom and dad,who have
helped me to shine.I want to learn more and more and I want to help
street children and all the people associated with NIOS. She then
asked the audience to join her in three cheers for NIOS.As she
walked off the stage,Jha said with admiration,What a brave girl.Im
positive she would have done a better job of hosting these
awards.

When it was time to give the environment award in the NGO
category,Sarjubai Meena strode on to the stage.Known in her village
in Bhilwara as the woman with the turban,Sarjubai launched into an
impromptu speech about how the Foundation for Ecological Security
the awardee in the category had helped transform her
village.Unfortunately,few in the audience were able to understand
the dialect that she spoke in.But the pride,determination and
sincerity in her voice needed no translation.She received a rousing
round of applause,and Jha remarked,She has certainly earned the
right to wear a turban.

The audience was also visibly moved when 11-year-old twins Hiranya
and Thiruvara Bhargavi,who were born with cerebral palsy,were
brought on to the stage Hiranya in a wheelchair and Thiruvara in a
wheeled stretcher.The twins and their mother,Apala,were there to
give the award to the winner for health in the government category
the National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism,Cerebral
Palsy,Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities.The stoic
courage and fortitude displayed by them moved many to tears. The
second Times of India Social Impact Awards in partnership with J P
Morgan made for the sort of evening that could not fail to move and
inspire even the most cynical.There were sagas of lives
transformed,as in the case of Kapilaben Vankar,who made half the
minimum wage in a factory in Anand in 1994,but began to earn decent
wages after joining womens trade union SEWA,the winning NGO in the
livelihoods category.Once too shy to speak to family
members,Kapilaben has risen to become national president of
SEWA,travelled to Washington and met US secretary of state Hillary
Clinton.

And there were,quite literally,life-anddeath stories like that of
Rajesh Shah,a chartered accountant from Mumbai,who in June 2005
suddenly collapsed in his office in a congested bylane in central
Mumbai.Within 25 minutes,Rajesh was being treated in
hospital,thanks to the ambulance service run by the winning
corporate in the health sector,Ziqitza Health Care.Doctors later
told him that he had suffered a stroke and could have been
paralysed for life had he been brought even half an hour
later.

There were so many inspiring stories that it came as no surprise
when President Pranab Mukherjee,the chief guest of the
function,hailed the awardees as a remarkable group of men and women
who had the vision to look beyond cynicism to a brighter
horizon,the courage to brave tremendous odds and believe that they
could make a difference,and the selflessness to do so quietly.

A LIFETIME OF INSPIRING WORK
Congratulating TOI for its efforts to honour individuals and
organisations who are silently contributing and creating a society
worth living in,the President said it gave him special pleasure to
hand over the prize to the joint winners of the Lifetime
Achievement Award Meira Paibi and the Naga Mothers Association.They
come from a region that tends not to get too much attention in the
national media.They have served as peacemakers in a frequently
conflict-ridden area.And they are living testimony to the enormous
healing power that women have to offer a troubled world, he said.He
concluded by telling all the awardees,I say you have made us
proud.

Receiving the award,Naga Mothers Association president Abeiu Meru
said the group was happy and honoured to share it with Meira Paibi
and looked forward to promoting peace between the two communities
and in the northeast.Thokchom Ramani Leima,83,who received the
award on behalf of Meira Paibi,said,We are grateful to our sons and
daughters at TOI for recognising the efforts of mothers.We ask you
to remember us beyond today.

- Extracts from the Times of India, January
31st 2012.

TIMES OF INDIA SOCIAL IMPACT AWARDEES A SYMBOL OF HOPE,
SAYS PRESIDENT
On the eve of Republic Day, President Pranab Mukherjee had spoken
of the need to reset India's moral compass and said "nothing should
be allowed to spur cynicism..." Three days later, at a deeply
moving ceremony hosted by National Award-winning filmmaker Prakash
Jha, the President moved seamlessly from his R-Day address while
applauding the winners of The Times of India Social Impact Awards,
in association with J P Morgan, as symbols of hope. "It is the work
done by exceptional individuals like the awardees…that gives me
confidence in India's enduring vitality and her certain tryst with
destiny," he said on Monday night. "I personally remember many such
people from my childhood and the village in which I grew up." His
speech was heard in rapt silence by a power-packed audience that
included about 15 Union cabinet ministers and ministers with
independent charge, leaders of the Opposition, top bureaucrats,
ambassadors, legal luminaries, business magnates and prominent
figures from civil society. The President, seen in this picture
with all the awardees and Times Group managing director Vineet Jain
(to his right), complimented The Times of India for instituting the
Awards which "will help reaffirm India as a caring society". He
said that while the media had a role in drawing "attention to what
is wrong", it should "make a conscious effort to highlight the
positive". "The best way is what TOI has done-identified those
individuals and organizations who silently contribute for the
betterment of society.- Extract from the Times of India, January
30th 2012.

National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) has been
selected as winner of the Social Impact Award 2012
instituted by Times of India in partnership with J P
Morgan in the Education segment under Govt. Category. The
Award is given in the recognition of magnificent work done by an
individual or groups or institutions making an impact in the
society in various segment including Education. The Award
recognises the work of NIOS in imparting education including
vocational skill to millions of out of school learners. NIOS feel
honoured to accept the award.

The award was conferred on 28th January 2013 at a
function in presence of high level dignitaries.